D-V title-game appearance is culmination of a season-long quest for Hilltopper 11

By JOHN DOYLE

jdoyle@fosters.com

Friday, November 9, 2012

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Doyle/Democrat photo
Somersworth linebacker Tyler Kretschmar runs a drill during a recent practice as coach Dan Hodsdon looks on. Somersworth will play Monadnock on Saturday for the Division V championship.

SOMERSWORTH — There’s little glamour in long training sessions in the weight room. But the Somersworth High School football team has been spending a lot of time there since well before the season started, and they hope it pays off in championship glory come Saturday afternoon.

“It means everything to be here,” Somersworth senior running back Kurtis Michaud said. “All the work that we put into the preseason. We’ve been working closely together all year, especially in the weight room.”

The Hilltoppers, No. 1 in the Division V tournament, will host No. 3 Monadnock on Saturday (1 p.m.), looking for their first title since winning it all in Division IV in 1997. Somersworth hasn’t played in a championship game since it lost at Hanover in the D-IV final in 2004, when the current seniors were in the fourth grade.

(Editor’s note: The possibility exists that the Somersworth field may be deemed unplayable because of the recent rain and snow. The game could then be moved to another venue such as Portsmouth High School. Stay tuned for further updates.)

“It’s everything we ever dreamed of,” said Somersworth linebacker Tyler Kretschmar. “At the beginning of the season, we all knew what our goal was. These guys, I’ve been playing with them ever since preschool. You take a step back, and you’re a little awe-struck that we’re actually here.”

Monadnock is the “1” in the Hilltoppers’ 8-1 record. The Huskies beat the Hilltoppers 21-14 in overtime in East Swanzey on Sept. 22. Both teams were 3-1 after the game, but Somersworth ran the table the rest of the way and were able to climb over Monadnock (7-2) for the No. 1 seed, as the Huskies lost to Kearsarge 21-7 on Oct. 20.

Somersworth quarterback Drew Francoeur said now that the Hilltoppers are No. 1, perhaps losing at Monadnock wasn’t the worst experience for his team. If nothing else, now the Hilltoppers can use revenge as motivation.

“It’s good now, because now we want revenge,” Francoeur said. “It’s good that we want to come back. If we want to be champions, we have to beat everyone.”

The Hilltoppers punched their ticket to Saturday’s game with a 27-10 win over No. 4 Stevens last week in the semifinals, a game they trailed 7-6 at the break.

“We need to correct the mistakes we made in the first half of that game,” Somersworth coach Dan Hodsdson said. “We didn’t have a very good first half, but we’re always about seeing what we’ve done and what we need to fix. I think our guys respond well to that teaching.”

While the Hilltoppers did not use a long bus ride as an excuse for losing at Monadnock seven weeks ago, they’re glad they have the chance to play at home and make the other team drive more than two hours on Saturday morning.

“That’s no small thing,” Hodsdon said. “That bus ride can be a little tedious. You have to get your legs back. We worked hard to get the 1 seed and we were really glad we were able to keep it.”

Monadnock coach Linwood Patnode said the challenge for his team the morning of the game will be to make the routine as normal as possible for the players and not let the long bus ride affect them mentally.

“You just need to make sure your team is aware it’s a long trip,” he said. “You have to get your sleep on Friday, have to be well nourished, watch what you’re drinking and take care of yourself. Football is a mental game. This won’t be like rolling out of bed and going to our field.”

Monadnock got its revenge on Kearsarge with a 14-6 upset at Kearsarge last week in the semifinals.

In the regular-season meeting, Monadnock held Somersworth’s top running back, Josh Ream, to zero yards on nine carries. While the Huskies will key in on Ream again, the Hilltoppers have a number of other offensive weapons at their disposal, such as Michaud, who ran for 102 yards and a score against Stevens. Francoeur is always a threat to throw and run.

Patnode said he’s not only impressed with what Ream and Francoeur can do offensively, but on the other side of the ball as well.

“They’re a really solid defensive team, physical and fast,” Patnode said. Ream is an excellent inside linebacker, and Francoeur was huge against Kearsarge (in the regular season) at safety. You can’t sweep or go in the middle against them. You try to be patient, let the game dictate where it’s going to go and look for opportunities. There are no holes.”

The Huskies’ strength is their defense, anchored by linebackers Nick Patterson, Zach Jarvis, D.J. Lotito and Jake Poulin. All four are solid offensive players as well. Monadnock held Kearsarge to just 96 yards of total offense for most of the game, before the Cougars scored on a 64-yard pass play with 1.4 seconds left. Monadnock has surrendered seven or fewer points in seven games this season, including a pair of shutouts.

Information from the Manchester Union-Leader and Keene Sentinel was used in this report.